A Kiss Can Change It All
by PenguinKing97
Summary: Annabeth struggles to get Percy to notice her, with a little help from the Athena and Aphrodite campers. Along the way, an old friend shows up to complicate things. Little does this friend know, a kiss can change everything... Good story, bad summary- I suck at these. T for some slightly suggestive scenes.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: __**I do not own Percy Jackson or any other characters. Unless otherwise stated, the characters in this story are the property of Rick Riordan and Hyperion.**_

_Why? _ Annabeth asked herself as she sat on her bed, wondering why she couldn't stop thinking about Percy. That annoying son of the sea god, with his silky hair, his amazing green eyes, those lips…

"No!" She yelled out loud, startling several of the nearby Athena campers. She immediately blushed and apologized, then gathered some clothes suitable for the beach and went to change. "No peeking this time, Malcom!" she yelled, bringing said camper's mind back to an awkward mission in Tijuana…

After shutting the door firmly and locking it, Annabeth looked at herself in the mirror. She had an acceptable figure, pretty facial features, and- something the mirror didn't need to tell her- intelligence. So why did Percy never notice her? _Maybe he has a mortal girlfriend,_ she thought in a panic. It would make sense- he had lived in the mortal world most of his life, unlike her. And even if he didn't, maybe he saw her as a friend after 6 years. Then she thought, _Why am I panicking like this? I should be getting dressed!_ She quickly pulled on a t–shirt , a pair of form-fitting shorts, and walked back out the door into the main cabin.

She quickly noticed 7 sets of raised eyebrows, all of the pointed at her. She knew the reason- she never dressed like this. She glared back defensively, and said, "What? Am I not allowed to get comfortable for a walk on the beach?

The response was strange. Malcom looked like he had swallowed a rock, but said, "It's just that we all know you and Percy are… ah…" Here he faltered, noticing Annabeth's trademark _"tread carefully"_ look. He pressed on bravely, however. "We all know that you're very close, but we also know that you like him… as MORE than a friend. And you are our sister, so… we thought we'd offer you some help in making him see some sense."

The feeling of relief Annabeth felt when he finished was enormous. Then one detail caught up to her. "Wait," she said, "I'm just barely figuring this out myself. How do you guys already know?" She asked irately. She hated being the last person- besides a certain clueless son of the sea god- to figure something out. Malcom let out a small laugh. "You aren't exactly _discreet_ about it," he said. "It leaves us to wonder how he hasn't figured it out yet."

Annabeth giggled, shocking the rest of the Athena campers. Annabeth laughed a lot. She told jokes. But as a cardinal rule: Annabeth. Did NOT. Giggle. "Well, he's been hit on the head plenty," she replied. "I don't exactly think he's the most amazing with feelings. He can hear a Minotaur a mile away, but he can't figure out how the girl constantly hanging out with him feels."

Malcom smiled. "Well," he said, his smile turning into that "trainwreck incoming" look he was so famous for, "We called in a little… professional help." Annabeth barely had time to wonder what was about to explode, when her question was answered for her. The doors burst open, and about half of the Aphrodite cabin poured into the room.

_How do I get myself into these situations?_ Annabeth wondered as she was carried right back towards the bathroom.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: I do not own Percy Jackson. If I did, this would have been in book 5.**_

**_As of yesterday, my major testing in school ended, so I'm able to upload these almost every day, given that I have the motivation to write- which isn't going away any time soon. Without further ado, kick back, relax, and enjoy Chapter 2!_**

Well, this was just great.

Annabeth's makeover was a nightmare, sure, but had thought it couldn't get any worse. Unfortunately, the gods had a knack of proving that idea wrong VERY quickly. The Aphrodite had escorted Annabeth into the bathroom of the Athena cabin, where they quickly found that she owned all of 6 outfits. Upon this discovery ("How can a girl own any less that 20 outfits and LIVE?" Lacy had shrieked, looking ready to pass out), they decided to take her to the Aphrodite cabin.

Oh, but WHY should it stop there?

They discovered that her skin tone was unable to match any of the different foundations and powders that they had in their vast arsenal, so they promptly decided that this would have to wait ("Thank the gods!" Thought Annabeth) until they had permission to go to one of New York's many spas.

Annabeth, relieved to be out of the Aphrodite cabin, groaned and promptly flopped down in the sand on the beach spot that Percy came to often, subconsciously hoping that he would be there. She was slightly tired, and decided to close her eyes for a minute or two, when a pair of sea-green eyes appeared above her.

Annabeth yelped, sat straight up, and turned to face Percy with a heart that was already beating at a thousand miles per hour- not helped by the amused smile on his face. 'He looks amazing when he smiles,' she found herself thinking.

"Uh, umm, hipercy." She squeaked. Percy apparently found this very amusing, see as he fell over laughing. 'It is a bit out of character...' She thought. A stray thought, somehow flowing around in her neatly organized mind, came to her attention.

'What would he do if I started flirting with him right now?' She wondered. A smile came across her face, and she knew. She HAD to try it. So she quickly collected herself, and said, "Sorry, it's just not every day you look up and see a good-looking son of Posiden. You startled me."

The laugh immediately calmed down. Percy's first thought was, 'Did Annabeth just... No, Annabeth doesn't know HOW to flirt.' Percy shrugged it off, saying, "Well, it's not every day you come to the beach for a swim and find an equally good-looking daughter of Athena.

Annabeth blushed. Percy had complimented her before, but he had never called her good-looking. It was a first, and most likely the last time, he had said something like that to her. If he meant it, that would mean that...

"Annabeth?" Percy called her name, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Sorry. It's just... You were blushing. Why?" Annabeth blushed all the harder.

"I... I wasn't blushing! What are you talking about?" Annabeth knew she was blushing horribly, and making her situation worse. Percy was staring at her, as if seeing her in a whole new light. As if he was seeing her as a girl for the first time.

"Annabeth... Do you, uh..."

Percy was blushing a bit now, too. He was about to ask her a question, and she thought she knew what it was. Just then, however, the gods chose to ruin the perfect moment for Annabeth to ask it first.

"Annabeth! We have permission to go to that spa uptown!" Yelled a voice. Annabeth smacked her palm against her face in exasperation. How did those girls work so fast?

"Alright, alright... Hold on."

Annabeth turned to Percy as she got up to leave. She sighed and said, "So... Wanna go swimming in the Sound when I get back?" She said, blushing a little. It wasn't exactly asking him out, but it was the most she could do with Lacy bouncing impatiently in the background.

Percy blushed a little, the thought of Annabeth in a bikini crossing his mind. "Uhh... Sure, that sounds great. See you then." They both went their own ways, blushing, and different thoughts about the other crossing their minds.  
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So, what do you think? Love it? Hate it? As some of you may have noticed, this was a bit of a filler chapter. Next chapter, we'll see how well Annabeth's makeover goes... Please, R&R, and pass the story to your friends!

~PenguinKing97~


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sadly, I do not own Percy Jackson. I do however, own the two new characters...

Now, seeing as most of the reviews centered on either the makeover, or the swimming scene, I feel like I should say this- I couldn't write it this time. I'm reaaally sorry! One of those two is in the next chapter, but as this chapter introduces a major plot development, I felt that it should be a little more serious. It's still got the funny, but in a different way this time :) However, I'll get off the screen and let you guys enjoy the story. ~PenguinKing97~ -

'This is just great,' Annabeth thought to herself as she joined the group of 40-some odd demigod children. The Aphrodite cabin alone wasn't that large- only about 26 campers. So who were all the demigods in armor? 'That settles it. This day is going to be a disaster.' As she got closer, she recognized the demigods in the battle armor.

It was like someone ('Lacy, for sure!' Annabeth fumed in her mind) had hired the entire Ares cabin on as an armed escort. Why Lacy saw this necessary (because Annabeth was dead sure this was Lacy's work- she was the only person capable of creating such a fuss over nothing), Annabeth had no idea. All she knew was that there were somewhere around 45 demigod children, a mixture of Aphrodite, Ares, and (for some reason), one of the more well-behaved Hecate spellcasters, Alexis.

This many demigods in one place was just begging every monster in the area, "Hey, over here! Please come rearrange our faces!" Of course, she'd seen the Ares cabin in action- monsters were hardly a problem. They'd be dust before they got within 2 feet if the circle of warriors. She was worried about the mortals that were sure to be around them. The last time 20 demigods (of course Percy was there) had toured the White House, they had locked a Empousai- a vampire- in the president's bedroom. Not the best idea.

As soon as she was in sight, Annabeth was ambushed from all directions by the Aphrodite girls. "Oh my gods, you and Percy are going to make the best couple," said one of them. "When we get done, he won't be able to look away from you for a second," said Lacy. The Aphrodite girls would do a good job, and Annabeth knew it. Something was nagging at her, and she finally realized what it was- Alexis was just leaning against a tree, not talking. Annabeth, with extreme trouble, fought the gaggle of squealing girls off of her.

She made her way over to Alexis, who looked up in surprise at someone approaching her. Her expression quickly turned to nervousness- nobody ever talked to her. She was a pretty girl, with a decent figure, waist-length blonde hair, and startlingly blue eyes. But despite all of that, she could cast spells, even if they were just basic, and that made everybody- even Alex Evanson, the bravest of the Apollo boys, who had a huge crush on her- shy away. Not Annabeth, though.

Annabeth settled down on the grass beside Alexis. For a minute, she just sat there, wondering whether or not she should talk. She made up her mind quickly, though, and asked, "What's wrong, Alexis? You usually enjoy things like this." It was true- Alexis was a bit of an outcast, but among the people that did talk to her, it was well known that she enjoyed socializing with anyone and everyone.

To Annabeth's surprise, Alexis responded immediately with a question. "Did you ever like someone before Percy, and you really wanted to ask them out, but you just didn't know how? You approached them, but just couldn't ask them?" She said in a rushed manner, all the words just tumbling out at once. She had been holding it all inside for a while, obviously. Seeing the state she was in, Annabeth decided to help Alexis out.

"Wait here, Lexi, and I'll be right back. I'll help you sort this all out." Having said this, Annabeth ran down the hill to break the news to the Ares and Aphrodite campers. She pulled Lacy to the side, far enough so that nobody could hear them. "Look, Lacy... I'm really sorry, but something came up. A friend needs help, and I can't ignore it. Can we... Reschedule this..." At this, Annabeth looked at the group, and seriously wanted to use the phrase 'train wreck waiting to happen', but instead settled for "Get-together?"

Lacy looked a little disappointed, but nodded and said, "I understand, Annabeth. Do what you need to." Then Lacy smiled and said, "You're a good friend, Annabeth. Percy had better treat you right, or he'll end up on the other end of Heart Breaker." Annabeth shivered involuntarily. She had seen Lacy's weird sword, Heart Breaker, and it scared her more that Kronos's scythe for some reason.

"I know he will," she said confidently, shrugging off the feeling that came with the mention of Heart Breaker. "He's too good-natured to hurt a girl's feelings, even if he wanted to." Annabeth smiled at her own words, knowing that they were the absolute truth. Percy was a good guy, always the first one to act courteously to a lady, and usually inconveniencing himself and going out of the way to do so. It was and endless source of hope for the male gender that someone like him actually existed in this day and age.

With that, they each went their own different ways, Lacy to break up the group, and Annabeth to fetch Alexis and teach whatever boy was making her feel like this that a girl's feelings are to be treated with respect.

When she got back to the tree, Annabeth found Alexis conjuring an image of Alex Evanson to pass the time. Annabeth grinned and said, "You've fallen for him pretty hard, huh?" And sat down next to her.

Alexis blushed and dispelled the image, allowing it to fade in a slow, slightly spotty manner. She sat in silence for a few more minutes, as if collecting her thoughts, and said, "I'd say so, yeah. He's the only guy I know that can think of me as more than a friend, and the only guy I've ever felt like this towards. He makes me happy, just by hanging out with me, and I always leave with this goofy little grin on my face," she said slowly. Annabeth could tell she meant every word of it.

As Alexis went on to describe her exact feelings, it occurred to Annabeth that this was exactly how she felt about Percy. It made her realize that more people than just her could benefit from this, even if it was just one more person. At the end of it Alexis said, "...and I know he feels the same, but he can't approach me. The rest of the Apollo cabin seems to think I'm gonna turn him into a rabbit and stick him in a hat," she said with a bitter tone to her voice, but she quickly became the soft-spoken, shy girl from before.

Annabeth put her arm around her and said, "Alexis... I'm amazed at how strong you are to endure all this. And from listening to you, I got an idea. You see, Percy has yet to ask me out either, so what do you say we kill two birds with one stone? I mean, it'll be much easier to get Percy to notice me if you and Alex are sitting two benches away, kissing..."

Alexis quickly saw what Annabeth meant, and her usual mischievous smile found its way through the tears. "I see what you're saying," she said with that trademark smile. "So, we get Alex to go out with me, and Percy to go out with you, and once the less clueless of the two finally kisses me, it should very easily persuade Percy to kiss you."

Annabeth grinned. "You sure you're not my long-lost twin? That was some serious dot-connecting, worthy of Athena."

Alexis grinned right back. "Well, you're gonna see just how well I can stick together a plan. Let's get to work on this."

Well! That was an eventful chapter. As some of you probably noticed, I added an OC x OC tag. Alex and Alexis are here to stay :) Also, sorry about the cheesy naming, I just pulled the names out of my black hole of a brain at the last second. Anyway, next time, we'll hear Alexis out on her plan for this double date... Oh, the opportunity for chaos this provides me with. *Evil Penguin Grin*

~PenguinKing97~


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: If I owned Percy Jackson, I would have done something like this long ago.  
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Annabeth absent-mindedly strolled across the beach, wondering what Percy would say when she asked him out. Alexis's plan was simple enough. She would have the Hecate cabin go out and place wards against monsters around the Cafe they decided to use as the location for their double-date- because seriously, you can never have too many contingency plans- and once her and Percy got there, Alex and Alexis would, by some twist of fate, be in the same location.

And from there on out, smooth sailing. Percy would notice Alex and Alexis kissing, and at that point, he should pick up on the whole are-you-going-to-kiss-me thing. Simplicity itself- given, of course, that Percy said yes, and didn't have 10 mortal girls fawning all over him... 'Wait a second,' she thought to herself, 'last time I was worried about 1 mortal girl! How did it become 10?'

The logical part of her brain won out, and just in time- percy would be done with the sword fighting class in about a minute, and then he would be sure to make his way down to the beach. She looked at her swimsuit rather self-consciously, hoping that it wasn't too revealing, or didn't show off her figure well enough. 'When did I start thinking like this? I sound like a daughter of Aphrodite!' She thought.

She was about to grab her watch from where she had left it, to check if she had gotten the time wrong, but at that precise moment, Percy came jogging down the beach wearing a pair of swimmer's shorts and a loose-fitting shirt. She didn't have the time to admire his body, though, before she noticed him staring at her with an apparent lack of control over his jaw muscles.

He got to her, quickly fixed his jaw's location, and said, "Wow... Uh." 'Yeah, real smooth, Percy,' he thought to himself. 'That probably ran her off right there.' He was wrong, though- she thought it was kind of cute, and blushed a little before saying, "So, uh... Water?" Again with the amazing vocabulary skills.

That last sentence, if you could call that a sentence, was just too much for Annabeth. She bust out laughing, and only stopped when she almost fell over. "That... Was priceless..." She said, still catching her breath. He turned a little red, and- finally getting his thought process pointed in one direction, asked, "Well, if you want we can get in the water whenever."

Annabeth's heart skipped a beat. This was the part where she had planned to ask him out- right before they went in the water. She panicked a little bit, but quickly squashed it down. 'I have to do this,' she thought. And she was right- she would never get a better chance than now.

"Percy, I have to tell you something. You'll probably think I'm crazy, or weird, but, umm..." She stalled for a few seconds. "Ireallylikeyou!" She said in a rush, as if the words would run away if she didn't say them that instant.

Percy's face showed several different emotions. Confusion, first- presumably as he tried to untangle the words- then shock, as it finally hit him, and finally, he blushed the brightest red she had ever seen, then looked down and mumbled something inaudible. His entire thought process was pointing in 7 directions at once again, some of them being, "Run!" And "Say you like her too, SAY IT!", and "Ummmmm..."

Finally, he sorted his thought process out, but he went right into "sappy" mode. "Annabeth, I like you too. I like you a lot, and I'm pretty sure I have ever since that dance on Olympus. I think you're amazing..." Here, he trailed off, and normal Percy came back from vacation, thinking, "What did I just SAY?!"

However, Annabeth didn't run away. She didn't scream, or shoot fireballs at him (she had been learning a few tricks from Alexis). She blushed, took a step towards him, and said, "Thank you for not running away when I said that. I thought you would panic, Seaweed Brain," she said softly. "And thank you for saying that you liked me too."

Percy's brain finally sorted out the mess that Annabeth's verbal freight train had made, and smiled. He immediately did the only thing he could think of. He brought Annabeth forward, tilted her chin up, and kissed her.

Annabeth's logical side would have said to wait. However, her logical side was currently vacationing in Canada, playing poker with her common sense and anything else besides Percy. She melted into him, kissing him back gently. If everything could have stayed that way for eternity, she would have been fine. When they finally broke the kiss, she looked at him and said, "umm..." Apparently, she had stolen Percy's amazing vocabulary during that kiss. Percy smiled, and said, "Did you honestly think I would say no, Annabeth?"

She collected her thoughts a little quicker than him, and replied by saying, "I don't think I was ready for that... Remind running it by me again, Seaweed Brain?" As softly as she could. Percy said, "Sure thing, Wise Girl," before kissing her again. It was the best day of Annabeth's life, and they spent the rest of it in Long Island Sound, swimming, splashing, and generally enjoying every las minute of daylight.

When they finally got back to the camp, she asked, "So, uhm... What say we go out tomorrow? Maybe to that Cafe next to the Chinese food place on 21st?" Percy was slow on the reply. "Don't we need permission to leave camp?" He asked. Annabeth smiled and said, "One step ahead of you. I asked Chiron this morning."

"Yeah, something tells me you knew I would say yes. That sounds wonderful." And with that, he kissed her goodnight, and went to his cabin. Little did they know, the kiss hadn't been as private as they thought. It had all ben watched with a feeling of dismay by a certain red-haired girl. "Why, Percy?"

Uh-oh! Do I see an upcoming conflict?

For those who were wondering, this is set in the gap between The Titan's Curse and Battle of The Labyrinth. Each book has a gap, and a good writer can do an endless list of things with that gap. And remember how I said my testing was over? WRONG. I forgot about STAAR, so this coming week may as well be the Ides of March. I'll still be updating often, though. Makeover next chapter! Feel free to shoot constructive criticism at me in the reviews!

~PenguinKing97~


	5. I'm Back!

My Appologies.

Dear readers, and anyone who took the time to read even part of this fanfiction, I'm sorry that I took this long. I've been a bit depressed due to a breakup, and then there were fanily issues, but rest assured- I'm back and better than ever. So, who all's looking forward to Annabeth's makeover? Review, and I'll deliver content early if I have it ready. 3 days 'til the actual Chapter 5 :)

~PenguinKing97


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